howard@cyb-eng.UUCP (Howard Johnson) (11/30/84)
> However, I was really impressed when he told one girl she was a >board. She stiffened up with an arched back and sort of quivered. The >hypnotist and a helper leaned her over and picked her up and set her >like a board across a gap between two tables, the back of her head on >one and the heels on her shoes on the others. She just stayed there, >arched like a bridge, even when they put a backpack full of books on >her stomach. I've also seen this done before. I had a high school physics teacher who was a Naval Intelligence officer during World War II and would occasionally hypnotize some volunteers when it was discovered that he could do so. He made sure that the volunteer was in *good* physical condition. Other things I've seen done by those under hypnosis: asking the volunteer to remember early memories; having them sign their name (when told they were in the 4th grade, 2nd grade, etc.); and having them hold an object and telling them that the object was becoming very hot or cold. >My mother is really against hypnotism, because she says although it >usually is ok, you can never really tell what will happen with a given >individual. This physics teacher explained that hypnotizing other people is dangerous when performed by untrained individuals, and there is so much that is unknown that it can be dangerous anyway. Who knows what kind of buried memories can be revived through hypnosis? This is one reason why this teacher always told the hypnotized volunteers that they would not remember what had happened during the time they were hypnotized. > Yes, I've >heard that you can't be made to do anything against your will, but you >CAN be convinced that something is necessary ( - that's a really evil >man. He has to be killed so that he won't hurt anyone else ... or - the >building's on fire! You have to jump out of the window to get away!). Again, a real-life example (second-hand from the teacher who performed the hypnotism): a girl was told that she was not wearing any clothes, and to make a long story short, it took some convincing for her to return to the classroom after fleeing to the girls' locker room down the hall. I've tried self-hypnotism, and it was nothing spectacular (in my case). I had a college professor who would use it regularly to relieve pain from migraine headaches. My preference is for imagining myself as having certain qualities which I believe are important but lacking, and if I do this consistently, I tend to get the results I need. Whether you call it self- hypnotism or meditation, you're dealing with related ideas, and from there it is necessary to rely on your own judgement. -- Howard Johnson Cyb Systems, Austin, TX ..!{gatech,harvard,ihnp4,nbires,noao,seismo}!ut-sally!cyb-eng!howard